Best Drugstore Highlighters

Posted on 02/15/2017

Do you remember a time before highlighters? They really haven’t been around all that long but they took the beauty world by storm and now it’s hard to find a makeup brand that doesn’t make a highlighter.

While BECCA’s Pressed Highlighter packs some serious stardust, and we couldn’t live without Jouer’s Citrine, we think many highlighters are over priced. You shouldn’t pay an arm and a leg for something you don’t use on your entire face, or every day for that matter. And the good news is there are loads of gorgeous highlighters at the drugstore!

One brand that really stands out in the highlighter department is Wet N Wild. We first stumbled onto ‘Precious Petals’ when it was released with their Summer collection last year. It looks peachy in the pan but it blends into the skin so naturally and compliments all skintones. From there we tried ‘Boozy Brunch’ (a beautiful pale gold), and the sought after gold bar highlighter. All of these highlighters pack some serious pigment, and they’re very long lasting!

If you saw our Best of Beauty 2016 you already know what our favorite find of last year was. Of course we’re talking about the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter. This product is well-loved by beauty YouTubers and for good reason. It’s the perfect natural champagne highlighter, and one of our most used! We prefer a subtly highlight for day to day, since our makeup during the week tends to be subtle as well. This highlighter gives you that “glow from within’ look you’ve been searching for.

Another highlighter worth mentioning is the J. Cat Beauty Golden Soleil Baked Bronzer in ‘Coconut Island’. While this isn’t technically a highlighter, it acts like one. J.Cat Beauty is such an under-rated brand. Probably because a lot of people don’t know about it since it’s only available online at Ulta.com. The pan itself has a sort of marbled effect that gives off a gold-ish champagne highlight. It’s also more natural looking, like the Pure Nude highlighter mentioned above. This is one we reach for often!

We’ve tried all the highlighters on this list and would recommend them all!